Guest Star: Andrew Daly

Luke and Manny have their first day at high school, which proves to be harder for Phil and Gloria than for the boys. Elsewhere, Claire makes her big return to the workforce at Jay's closet company and is a little rusty on her first day, and Cam starts a new substituting gig at the high school, leaving Mitch to try to juggle Lily's first day in 1st grade and a very important meeting at work.

The high school open house puts the parents in a bit of a time warp when Claire finds herself stressed out by all the pressure, Gloria encounters a 'mean gir'” mom (guest star Jane Krakowski) and Jay teaches Phil how to play a little hookie. Elsewhere, Mitchell gets defensive when he encounters his judgemental, environmentalist neighbor (guest star Jesse Eisenberg) and Alex goes to see a therapist (guest star John Benjamin Hickey).

When Manny and Luke put on the school's lavish winter dance and end up over their heads due to a texting error, it is up to them to fix it before the end of the night. Meanwhile, Gloria, Claire, Mitchell and Cam all volunteer at the dance while Jay's thinly veiled guise to get out of it by pretending to want to spend time with Phil backfires. During the dance, Claire and Gloria attempt to set up Marjorie, an overbearing mom, with the school's principal. Finally, Mitchell is unnerved to be back in high school and is shocked to see a lot of himself in the school bully and feels he needs a little guidance.

Haley needs a little motherly advice from Claire as she considers her future with Dylan and her career. Meanwhile, Jay and Cam’s less than politically correct coaching style earns them a class on sensitivity from Manny and Phil; and Mitch runs into Phil’s nemesis, Gil, at an unlikely place.

While preparing a presentation for his students about their future goals, Cam must also contend with a bully at the school and Jay is having a little technical troubleduring his video conference. Meanwhile, the local mall is holding a photo shoot for its new ad campaign and Gloria tricks Phil and Joe into participating.